NBA Rumors: Jonathan Kuminga Benched for Warriors vs. Pelicans during contract year | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

The Golden State Warriors will bench Jonathan Kuminga on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Kendra Andrews.

Charania also offered some more context in addition to the move.

Kuminga enters last year of his contract and will hit restricted free agency in 2025.

Danny Emerman of Bay Area News Group received word from Kuminga in response to the measure. Kuminga apparently hadn’t heard from head coach Steve Kerr before making more comments.

This is not the first time that Kuminga has encountered problems behind a bench. Taylor Wirth of NBC Sports Bay Area provided insight last February.

Kuminga was benched for the remaining 18 minutes of the Warriors’ 130-127 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 4 at Chase Center after scoring 16 points in 18:57 on the court, a decision that didn’t sit well at Golden Staatsfans and the former lottery choose the same.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the next day that Kuminga had “lost confidence” in Kerr and that his display against the Nuggets was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

It’s been a tough start to three games for Kuminga, who averaged just 8.0 points on 33.3 percent shooting in 19.7 minutes.

However, Kerr doesn’t seem concerned about the start.